Teradek A750 Review: Reliable 4K Wireless Video for Real Production Workflows

In this hands-on review, the Teradek A750 is tested across a range of real-world production setups, from lightweight iPhone rigs to full cinema builds, highlighting its consistency and reliability in demanding environments. While positioned as a more budget-friendly option on paper, the system delivers dependable 4K transmission, low latency, and stable performance, especially with the advantages of 6GHz connectivity improving signal reliability on set. Watch more:

Learn more about Teradek here

Read the transcript: 

[music] [music] This video is long overdue and I know a lot of you all have asked [music] me my experience with the A750s, so this is the video for you. I've used the Pterodc A750 on a variety of productions from iPhone rigs, mirrorless [music] setups, and full-on camera builds. This budget transmitter and receiver has delivered [music] on every situation I needed to, especially when I needed a 4K signal and low latency. Still going strong. That's me. There's my leg. [snorts] Most of you have been on the fence about getting into the Terjack system because of the price. This is where the A750 comes into [music] play. So, what you're getting is 4K 30p, 10bit HDR, true zero delay, a range up to 750 ft, [music] line of sight, 6GHz frequency, and expandable with the Bolt 6 system, all for around $1,000 [music] for both the transmitter and the receiver. In my opinion, this is the better budget option to own. However, I am going to be talking about the cons first of the A750, just so [music] you know. And there's not a long list. So, here's the first one. Now, there's no SDI on this unit. That might be a con for most of you all coming from or comparing it to the DJI SDRs or the Holland or Axons. I get it. But this is mainly made for mirrorless cameras or just cameras that only have HDMI obviously. So, I still think it's useful. HDMI is still going to be around. And a lot of production cameras that are more high-end still have HDMIs on some, not all of them. So, there's that. The second thing is that there's no iPad app for viewing. Reason being that this model, the A750s or really all the terterodex, they don't use Wi-Fi based systems. These are their own chip systems, the BB3 system. And we're going to talk more about that a little bit later in this video. For power, it does come with its own barrel to DTAP cable, which is fine. It's not a locking. It's not threaded, so it kind of just sticks in and that's it. And you could knock it out if if depending on how your rig is. And there's a second option where you can actually buy a battery plate which has a Sony MPF and a Canon LP battery. Um, but that makes it a lot more bulkier obviously. And yeah, so there's that. But those are really the three things that I find as cons. There's more to this video and you get to weigh the pros and cons which the pros outweigh the cons in my opinion in a lot of ways. But before I talk more about the good stuff, let me just talk about today's sponsor, Audio. To me, what makes a good music platform like Audio is simple. It actually has music you enjoy listening to. When the music library is full of tracks that genuinely inspire you, finding the right piece for a project becomes a lot easier. Now, audio has several ways for [music] you to discover new music. And personally, I'm a browser. When I log in, I usually just see what's on the what's new section. I play a few tracks. I save ones that I like. And then I click [music] find similar. That opens a whole new set of artists and tracks that I haven't heard before. Now, [music] on the days that I feel a little bit more indecisive, I pull up Hans 2.0. All I have to do is type in a feeling or expression and it starts surfacing tracks [music] that match that vibe. And it's a really quick way to get the creative gears turning. Now, if you want to try it out [music] yourself, you can start for free. And also use code cine70 to get 70% off your first year. [music] Honestly, tools like this can cut your music search in half. And if you've been enjoying the music in this video so far, I've actually put together a playlist just for you. Check it out. Everything I'm about to mention depends on your use case. I know some users have a really good experience with Wi-Fi based transmission systems. So, feel free to rent out these units and test it for yourself. For me, this hasn't been the case. Wi-Fi transmission systems can be convenient, but it's been unreliable. The possibility of getting a ton of interference is at a greater risk. The BB3 silicon chips in the Bolt 6 and A750 have proven themselves time and time again, which leads me to talk about the 6 GHz option. >> Flashback. So, let's say you have a five lane highway. This is your 5 GHz [music] uh workflow, which most devices like the DJI Pro and the SDR can operate between 2.4 GHz all the way up to 5.8 8 GHz. So let's say you know and you're in a high congested area with a lot of different types of frequencies happening. So it gets so cluttered. Imagine it's like your you know your traffic basically. The six [music] GHz is your fast lane or the carpool lane. It's going to allow you to get over it and get a better [music] data transfer, data stream, better frequency, better reliability, and it bypasses all that extra congestion. Now there are a lot of models out on the market already that offer 4K signal. And what's nice about the Pterodact system is that the 4K is consistent at 10 bit 42:2. [music] The clarity and detail is just a win. Of course, you need a camera that outputs a [music] 4K signal, but even in 1080p, it looks great with the terterodex. Now, there's going to be some level of latency coming from the camera to the transmission and [music] going out, but but terod has proven themselves to have the lowest rate for latency. I can easily pull focus off the A750s. So, this is something I highly recommend. You can get by with other systems, but I'm not in the market to get by. I want to have something that's reliable and consistent. And overall, you can use the A750 as a base and expand to the Bolt 6. So, you can always keep the system with you. There's no need to buy one system and buy a whole new system and not use it. You can use both in any and all scenarios that they'll communicate. And pairing them is really easy. Here's how to do that. All right. All right. So, once you download the Bolt app, you just go find it on your phone. I've already unpaired these, but just so you know, on the A750, you want to make sure that Bluetooth is enabled. What you do is press this little button here. You'll see it toggle on and off. So, Bluetooth on, Bluetooth off. Let's make sure it's on. And then in your Bolt 6, you'll just navigate through the menu to go to the Bluetooth setting. And then make sure that's on. Then you just hit pairing. It should see the transmitter first and then you should see the receiver next and pair. I'll let this go on real time. It's syncing and it's complete. And then we go back out. You can go to each one. And here in the app, you can actually go and change whether you want the 5 GHz or 6 GHz channel. So, if you open up the receiver, you get all this extra information. So, it's loading information. Right now, I'm not connected to anything, but you can see all this information here, which is great. If we go up to the menu up the top here, and then wireless settings, and then you go to 5G or 6G. Same thing with the Bolt 6. Or you can actually go to the menu inside the device as well. That's the only difference between the two. You have to do all the settings in the app for the A750 versus the Bolt 6. You can do it on the device itself. I used to bounce between the DJI Transmission Pro, SDR, and Pterodact, both the Bolt and ACE. Now, I've recently sold my DJI transmission system, both the SDRs and the Pro models. But to briefly explain why I did that, there were just some drawbacks from the DJI system compared to the Pterodex system for my workflow. >> Flashback. This >> has been kind of crazy with this camera system. >> Main with the DJI stuff, the transmission, it's not really great for a big setup like this. The most recent job that I was on, we used the Ronin 4D as well as the other DJI products for that, you know, transmission system. DJI hasn't made a significant update to those devices in a while as well. I digress. And so here are a few things why this was the last straw for me using the DJI system on professional sets. One, when you have to use multiple receivers, it has to go into broadcast mode. And broadcast mode increases the latency and the quality degrades. So you don't get a crisper image. Though it is still 1080p, I think it just doesn't look good and you get a weaker picture coming into it. and we had some, you know, high-profile clients. There was really no complaints that I heard, but our VTR and, you know, ACS were trying to figure out things how to make it work. Um, and two, for whatever reason, the the image kept dropping out. We were in a probably heavily um traffic area in terms of signal. We were at the docks in Chicago and there's a bunch of other uh industrial plants and stuff like that. as the Wi-Fi was it was a lot of traffic in terms of airways and so we just kept getting the image dropping out and they were reset and stuff like that so it was just a nightmare to use so we eventually just strapped a bolt 500 that we ran down to get from the um rental house and that kind of saved our day basically and that was just the last straw I don't want to run through that again so this is why I'm moving on to fully moving on to terod deck so I normally do not do a long range test simply because a lot of my jobs are in close proximity when I'm using transmission systems. So, I never really hit that range, but I have the time. Why not? This is kind of common amongst kind of reviews. And so, just to give you an idea of my environment, I am in the middle of the farmlands. Uh I do have power line poles, uh but nothing like significant interference. And so this would be a good clean slate to test. I have a very long driveway. So right now we're walking all the way down to my uh what's that called? Trash can. And I don't know how long the dropway is, but it's pretty long as you see. I'm kind of out of breath holding these two things. But um this is going to give that test and you had to do your own testing um when you're using it in buildings, homes, all that jazz. Again, I did more testing on my other video. You can try you can test out to see. But um Oh, I think it dropped. It did drop. Okay. It says good link, but it's not. I think I'm actually well past 750 ft. [snorts] Uh, yeah, I think that's well over 500 700 ft as I'm looking at it. Maybe it will connect once I get closer. Yeah, it doesn't it doesn't even see it doesn't even say video sending. So, that means there's absolutely no signal. [snorts] But there you have it. There's that test. That happened quick. See if it pops up. See, it's just a black screen right now for me. You kind of see that [snorts] and picture. Okay. Wow, that's crazy. Okay, so right here is at his limit. And to give you an idea of how far that is, it's kind of hard to tell with this wide lens, but the camera is way down by the house. And I think that is about 750 ft line of sight. So, there you have it. So, yeah. [snorts] So, that wraps up for this video. I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you learned something new. And if this is helpful, please share. Uh, this year has been quite slow in terms of me putting out videos per month this year, which has been fine for me, I guess you can say. Um, but this summer is going to be really fun. There's some exciting stuff coming. Some more work I can't wait to talk about. So, stick around. Uh, subscribe if you haven't. And, uh, I catch you guys on the next video. What was that? I I don't know. But I'll see you all later. Sheesh.